The Dow Jones industrial average on Friday suffered its worst week since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, stung by severe anxiety over Europe's spiraling debt crisis and a warning from the Federal Reserve about the U.S. economy.
Gold prices slumped more than $100 an ounce on Friday, the biggest fall on record in dollar terms, as traders sold to cover losses, while global stocks edged up on expectations the European Central Bank will take new measures to contain the euro zone debt crisis.
Just days after the Federal Reserve launched a new round of unconventional monetary policy easing, a top Fed official with a record of supporting such moves on Friday questioned how effective the latest move will be.
Gold crashed more than $100 lower on Friday as a slide turned into a freefall, with weeks of volatility, renewed strength in the dollar and talk of hedge fund liquidation wrecking its safe-haven status.
Let's face the mounting facts and just say it in plain language: The world is slipping into Global Recession 2011 and governments don't have the gunpowder to ward it off. The U.S. economy is barely growing at all. Companies aren't hiring. The federal budget deficit is above $14.5 trillion. Companies are stockpiling cash because, as Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in a press conference this week, because the consumer has pulled back.
Gold prices plummeted Friday, at one point tumbling to 15 percent below the level of three weeks ago, as investors started buying stocks and, to a lesser extent, euros. Silver is now down 25 percent from its mid-week level.
Still burdened by an ongoing phone-hacking scandal at its British subsidiaries, Rupert Murdoch's company is aggressively buying back shares in an effort to buttress its share price. Assuming the shares remain at about $17, one analyst estimates News Corp. will have repurchased almost $2.2 billion in shares by as early as Nov. 7.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is on track to record a weekly decline of more than 800 points -- its worst weekly swoon in two years. But the important question for the typical investor is, 'Where's the Dow likely to head in the next six months?'
Gold prices fell about 3 percent Friday, setting up the third weekly decline for what has recently been touted as the pre-eminent safe haven.
Finance officials from the Group of 20 nations on Thursday pledged to preserve financial stability and said central banks were ready to provide liquidity as needed, but a communique after the meeting offered few hints of fresh action to contain Europe's raging debt crisis or revive the faltering global economy.
U.S. gold futures posted their steepest losses in a month on Thursday, dragged down by a global flight from risk that raises new questions about bullion's value as a safe haven and the sustainability of its long rally.
U.S. President Barack Obama sought support for his job creation plan at a philanthropic summit on Wednesday, saying improving the prospects of the world's richest economy was good for the world.
Commodity investors fled for the exits on Thursday in a panic over raw materials demand, unconvinced that Federal Reserve action will stem a global economic slowdown that shows signs of infecting China and Germany.
The Dow has lost 6.74 percent over the past four days.
Paul's ideas go mainstream
Gold prices plunged Thursday when investors stampeded out of precious metals, as well as stocks, into the perceived safety of the U.S. dollar.
U.S. stocks are suffering a massive sell-off, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting more than 400 points, in the wake of a grim outlook from the Federal Reserve. Treasuries are rallying, the yield on the 10-Year note is at 1.76 percent, an all-time low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted in Thursday trading, dropping more than 3 percent at certain times after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke introduced Operation Twist to jump-start the slumping economy.
The U.S. Federal Reserve intervened in the U.S. economy Thursday – the central bank did what investors thought they would do, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average still fell more than 270 points. What’s going on?
China's manufacturing sector contracted for a third consecutive month in September while a measure of inflation picked up, suggesting the world's No.2 economy may not be able to provide much of a counterweight to flagging U.S. and European growth.
U.S. stocks have opened sharply lower in Thursday morning trading following an overnight plunge in global markets. Equities have tumbled largely in response to the Federal Reserve’s grim warning about the state of the U.S. economy and the establishment bond swap program.
Foreign equities tumbled largely in response to the Federal Reserve’s grim warning about the state of the U.S. economy.
